Is There Any Difference Regarding Bequests (Wasiyya) Between the Shafi’i and Hanafi Schools?

Answered by Shaykh Irshaad Sedick

Question 

1) What is the penalty (kaffara) for missed prayer in the Shafi’i School?

2) Is there any difference regarding bequests (wasiyya) between the Shafi’i and Hanafi Schools?\

3) Will there be any differences when making a last will according to the Shafi’i School?

Answer

In the Name of Allah, the Most Merciful and Compassionate. 

Penalty for Missing Prayers

Thank you for your important question. In general, one should exhaust every means to pray on time, but if you missed prayers, there is no penalty (kaffara), except to make up those prayers as soon as possible, after turning to Allah in repentance. [Shirbini, Mughni Al-Muhtaj]

Differences in Laws of Bequests (Wasiyya)

Most of the principal regulations in Sacred Law about bequests (wasiyya) are the same across the Schools of Thought. All schools of thought, for example, opined that there is a ⅓ limit in the wasiyya and that it is only for non-heirs. [Al-Mawsuʿa Al-Fiqhiyya]

Making a Last Will

The safest and wisest way to construct your last will by Sacred Law is to clearly state that your entire estate (after paying off debts and bequests) should be distributed according to Sacred Law (Shariʿa) according to the School of Thought (Madhhab) to which you subscribe. In addition, appoint a reliable scholar, or better still, a group of reliable scholars to oversee the distribution process according to Sacred Law, and Allah knows best.

I pray this is of benefit and that Allah guides us all.

[Shaykh] Irshaad Sedick

Checked and Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani

Shaykh Irshaad Sedick was raised in South Africa in a traditional Muslim family. He graduated from Dar al-Ulum al-Arabiyyah al-Islamiyyah in Strand, Western Cape, under the guidance of the late world-renowned scholar, Shaykh Taha Karaan. 

Shaykh Irshaad received Ijaza from many luminaries of the Islamic world, including Shaykh Taha Karaan, Mawlana Yusuf Karaan, and Mawlana Abdul Hafeez Makki, among others.

He is the author of the text “The Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal: A Hujjah or not?” He has served as the Director of the Discover Islam Centre and Al Jeem Foundation. For the last five years till present, he has served as the Khatib of Masjid Ar-Rashideen, Mowbray, Cape Town.

Shaykh Irshaad has thirteen years of teaching experience at some of the leading Islamic institutes in Cape Town). He is currently building an Islamic online learning and media platform called ‘Isnad Academy’ and pursuing his Master’s degree in the study of Islam at the University of Johannesburg. He has a keen interest in healthy living and fitness.